— The Erimtan Angle —

‘Clashes between police and rioters in China’s turbulent Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region have left close to 100 people dead (3 August 2014)’.

The Reuters report reads that ‘[m]asked militants attacked civilians, police and officials last week in China’s far western region of Xinjiang leading to almost 100 deaths, the government said on Sunday [3 August 2014], giving fresh details on one of the worst incidents of unrest in years. The official Xinhua news agency said 59 “terrorists” were gunned down by security forces in Shache county in Xinjiang’s far south, while 37 civilians were killed in the attacks on 28 July. State media had reported the incident a day later, saying dozens of people had been killed when knife-wielding attackers had staged assaults in two towns in the region. A high-profile Xinjiang imam, Jume Tahir, who had staunchly supported the Communist party, was stabbed to death on 30 July. It is unclear why the government waited so long to announce detailed casualties, though bad news has sometimes been covered up or delayed in the past. Due to tight security, visits by foreign journalists are very difficult, making an independent assessment of the situation almost impossible’.[1]